Nearly two years ago, I looked at my 'to read' pile and realised that it never seemed to go down any further in size. I became pretty curious to work out just how much I was reading so I decided to start to track the books that I was reading on an Excel spreadsheet. The first year saw me (just) break the hundred book barrier, but this year it's looking like the end count will be around the low-mid eighties. I'm guessing that the dropped numbers are a combination of the change in my job at work hitting free time, and the fact that I have read a fair few RPGs this year. For some reason, they always take longer!
I was lucky enough to be given a number of new books for Christmas, with quite a range. Current affairs (Robert Fisk's book on the Middle East) through to history (Atlas of the Year 1000, Persian Fire), Humour/Fantasy (Terry Pratchett and Lynne Truss' "Talk to the Hand") through to SF (Stross' Accelerando and Ken MacLeod's latest). So the reading stockpile is as high as every. On top of that, I've a few RPGs to read like the new Deryni Game, and the new edition of 'The Burning Wheel'.
27 December 2005
07 December 2005
Film: The Call of Cthulhu
I've just spent an excellent weekend in London, spending Saturday at Dragonmeet, running Traveller for BITS. However, as we had an abundance of helpers, I got the chance to visit the various stands. The standout material at the show was that produced for Call of Cthulhu by the HPLHS (HP Lovecraft Historical Society). Amongst this was a Region 0 DVD, of their silent 1920s / 1930s style B&W silent film version of The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft's classic mythos tale.
Having watched it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It's never going to be your blockbuster style Hollywood movie, but it's a great way to pass an hour. If you're in the UK, Leisure Games took all the remaining stock.
To add icing to the cake, I also picked up their Props and Fonts CDs. The first one is a collection of PDF files of 1920s artifacts – such as passports, drivers licenses, library cards and newspapers – that can be modified at will. The second is a collection of fonts taken from a 1920s font book. They've been scanned and turned into True Types (which work in Mac OS X and Windows). As a bonus, one of the fonts is a script based on Lovecraft's own hand.
To add icing to the cake, I also picked up their Props and Fonts CDs. The first one is a collection of PDF files of 1920s artifacts – such as passports, drivers licenses, library cards and newspapers – that can be modified at will. The second is a collection of fonts taken from a 1920s font book. They've been scanned and turned into True Types (which work in Mac OS X and Windows). As a bonus, one of the fonts is a script based on Lovecraft's own hand.
28 November 2005
Letters from the past
I've just added a new section to the website – family letters from the 1940s. They're scans of two letters that my grandfather received from his brother in 1940 and 1942. I've kept them as part of the family heirlooms!
27 November 2005
First Impressions - Crusader Rex (Shortened Playtest)
Having watched Kingdom of Heaven earlier this week I was itching to get a game of Crusader Rex, so Friday night finally gave the opportunity that I was after. Jill was preparing some shoe-boxes for work's entry into Operation Christmas Child, so I dug out the game and set it up on the lounge floor.
Before I started, I also had a quick skim through the various forums on the Columbia Games site to get an idea of tactics and strategy. From this, it became apparent that there were a number of challenges. The Franks (Crusaders) were perilously exposed, and an aggressive strategy could rapidly result in them being wiped out. In addition, their generally lower quality forces left them attacking second in a battle until the Crusading forces arrived. The final controversy – for which there were repeated heated discussions on the forums – was that the 'Knights Charge' rules were somewhat deadly to both sides. It gets the Franks doubled attacks, but exposes them to the risk that any roll of a '6' on the D6 causes damage to their own sides. The rules have recently been changed, and the designer, Jerry Taylor, makes a spirited defense of their accuracy on the games' forums.
Anyway, I played both sides, so the fog of war was limited, and the game ran from 1187 to 1189 (when I had to abandon because it was too late).
The first year's play (6 turns worth) started in a very edgy way. I wasn't sure how deadly combat would be, so decided to muster the Saracen forces at a four locations to try and get some reasonable sized armies. As a tactic, it works very well, provided you've allowed for the winter turn at the end of the year. By the third month these were moving into Outremer, with forces from Damascus and Egypt threatening Jerusalem, forces from Aleppo threatening Antioch and a final group threatening Krak des Chevaliers to the north. There's a game map here if you want to have a look at the geography. Movement is limited to roads - major routes (think lines) can have 8 units pass, and minor routes can have 4 units.
The initial fighting was at Tiberias (ironically, near Hattin, the major defeat that triggered the Third Crusade), south of the Sea of Galilee. The Franks repelled the initial forces threatening Jerusalem, but at the cost of about two thirds of the military orders after a bodged Knights Charge. These were lost forever as the military orders can't be replaced. The attack was effective though, and one of Saladin's relatives was killed. The rest of the Saracen casualties went in the draw pool to re-emerge later in the game.
A minor push at Krak des Chevaliers was repelled, but again casualties were taken by the military orders. By the end of the first game year the Franks only had two military order units left, both at reduced strengths.
The end of the year saw a mistake on my part as Saracen commander. I'd overcommitted high value movement cards so didn't have enough to regroup around logistical bases for the winter. The limits were set at 1 block per number at the location; for example, Jerusalem can support 3 units, but Krak des Chevaliers only 1 block. Any excess blocks are disposed of, which resulted in the effective destruction of the Egyptian army. From this point on, both sides were careful with move cards and also used retreats and regrouping moves effectively at the end of the year.
The second year sees the draw-pools in action, so each side draws a reinforcement block every game turn (of which there are 6 in a year). The Franks ended up with two of the three English Crusaders, and a German and French unit too. This was somewhat pleasing but also worrying to the Saracen side. Pleasing, because there were no effective additional defenders in play, but worrying because there were heavy reinforcements very close to arriving with the right draw.
The fighting went badly for the Franks, with the complete loss of the south at the second battle of Tiberias, followed by a retreat from Acre with a late year follow up attack. King Guy and most of the remaining Outremer nobility from the south died. Antioch fell, proving that protective walls weren't enough to save against a strong attacking force, and a desperate retreat followed south down the coast. The only upside to the Franks turn was the attack by the assassins on Saladin. Sadly, this didn't quite succeed in taking him out of the game. End of turn saw the Saracen forces dispersing to blockade the ports to the south against the crusaders' arrival.
1189 opened brightly for the Franks, as Richard the Lionheart deployed to Tripoli along with the Aquitaine Crossbowmen. The Franks didn't have enough movement points to bring Robert of Normandy in as well. King Guy re-appeared as well. The Saracen forces launched a savage attack at Tripoli and Krak des Chevaliers, which finally fell. Faced with an overwhelming force, and nowhere to retreat, Richard Kinght's Charged, causing massive damage (6 points) but the newly arrived Crusaders were wiped out to a man. The final remaining military orders were also finished off. Next turn, Robert deployed to Tartus, and launched a heavy counter attack with the forces that had retreated from the north and Krak. This blunted the Saracen attack, and left the crusaders in possession of the ports from Beirut to Latakia, helped by drawing the right forces from the draw-pool. King Guy mustered a small force to Jerusalem. And that's when I ended the game.
The position looked better, but far from rosy for the Franks. They had a good stronghold around Tripoli, and the French Crusaders were ready to arrive. The south had a good enough force to be making the Saracens consider re-mustering to engage it. However, doing so would open the way for the Crusaders to arrive in one of those ports, threatening the south of Outremer. I guess that a higher risk, all out attack from the Saracens could settle the game by 1191, but it would potentially leave them exposed.
I really enjoyed the game - I do think that possibly some tweaks are needed, but don't feel that there are any major flaws. It took two and half hours to get to the point I was at!
 |
| Game map (source: Columbia Games) |
Anyway, I played both sides, so the fog of war was limited, and the game ran from 1187 to 1189 (when I had to abandon because it was too late).
The first year's play (6 turns worth) started in a very edgy way. I wasn't sure how deadly combat would be, so decided to muster the Saracen forces at a four locations to try and get some reasonable sized armies. As a tactic, it works very well, provided you've allowed for the winter turn at the end of the year. By the third month these were moving into Outremer, with forces from Damascus and Egypt threatening Jerusalem, forces from Aleppo threatening Antioch and a final group threatening Krak des Chevaliers to the north. There's a game map here if you want to have a look at the geography. Movement is limited to roads - major routes (think lines) can have 8 units pass, and minor routes can have 4 units.
The initial fighting was at Tiberias (ironically, near Hattin, the major defeat that triggered the Third Crusade), south of the Sea of Galilee. The Franks repelled the initial forces threatening Jerusalem, but at the cost of about two thirds of the military orders after a bodged Knights Charge. These were lost forever as the military orders can't be replaced. The attack was effective though, and one of Saladin's relatives was killed. The rest of the Saracen casualties went in the draw pool to re-emerge later in the game.
A minor push at Krak des Chevaliers was repelled, but again casualties were taken by the military orders. By the end of the first game year the Franks only had two military order units left, both at reduced strengths.
The end of the year saw a mistake on my part as Saracen commander. I'd overcommitted high value movement cards so didn't have enough to regroup around logistical bases for the winter. The limits were set at 1 block per number at the location; for example, Jerusalem can support 3 units, but Krak des Chevaliers only 1 block. Any excess blocks are disposed of, which resulted in the effective destruction of the Egyptian army. From this point on, both sides were careful with move cards and also used retreats and regrouping moves effectively at the end of the year.
The second year sees the draw-pools in action, so each side draws a reinforcement block every game turn (of which there are 6 in a year). The Franks ended up with two of the three English Crusaders, and a German and French unit too. This was somewhat pleasing but also worrying to the Saracen side. Pleasing, because there were no effective additional defenders in play, but worrying because there were heavy reinforcements very close to arriving with the right draw.
The fighting went badly for the Franks, with the complete loss of the south at the second battle of Tiberias, followed by a retreat from Acre with a late year follow up attack. King Guy and most of the remaining Outremer nobility from the south died. Antioch fell, proving that protective walls weren't enough to save against a strong attacking force, and a desperate retreat followed south down the coast. The only upside to the Franks turn was the attack by the assassins on Saladin. Sadly, this didn't quite succeed in taking him out of the game. End of turn saw the Saracen forces dispersing to blockade the ports to the south against the crusaders' arrival.
1189 opened brightly for the Franks, as Richard the Lionheart deployed to Tripoli along with the Aquitaine Crossbowmen. The Franks didn't have enough movement points to bring Robert of Normandy in as well. King Guy re-appeared as well. The Saracen forces launched a savage attack at Tripoli and Krak des Chevaliers, which finally fell. Faced with an overwhelming force, and nowhere to retreat, Richard Kinght's Charged, causing massive damage (6 points) but the newly arrived Crusaders were wiped out to a man. The final remaining military orders were also finished off. Next turn, Robert deployed to Tartus, and launched a heavy counter attack with the forces that had retreated from the north and Krak. This blunted the Saracen attack, and left the crusaders in possession of the ports from Beirut to Latakia, helped by drawing the right forces from the draw-pool. King Guy mustered a small force to Jerusalem. And that's when I ended the game.
The position looked better, but far from rosy for the Franks. They had a good stronghold around Tripoli, and the French Crusaders were ready to arrive. The south had a good enough force to be making the Saracens consider re-mustering to engage it. However, doing so would open the way for the Crusaders to arrive in one of those ports, threatening the south of Outremer. I guess that a higher risk, all out attack from the Saracens could settle the game by 1191, but it would potentially leave them exposed.
I really enjoyed the game - I do think that possibly some tweaks are needed, but don't feel that there are any major flaws. It took two and half hours to get to the point I was at!
26 November 2005
DVD Selection
We've been catching up on films we missed at the cinema recently, and the last week saw us through three on the list – War of the Worlds, Kingdom of Heaven, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
We kicked off with H.G.Wells' classic, redone for the present-day by Spielberg. The effects were brilliant, and action steady, but somehow it just didn't do it for me. Now, part of the reason for that may be the legacy of Jeff Wayne's musical version, which was a big influence on me when I was barely into my teens. Morgan Freeman's introductory narrative jarred, because it just wasn't Richard Burton.
Into the film, and we see Tom Cruise playing a variation of the arseh*le character that he made his career with. A divorced father of two, he looks as if he is what the characters in Top Gun and Days of Thunder would have become when their arrogance finally led to a real fall. I found it hard to be sympathetic to him until later in the film when his impotence against the alien invaders became apparent, and his fear of loosing his family took over. One sensible change was that the aliens were no longer 'Martians' – it would have been hard to justify after the amount of exploration missions to Mars that as the setting is the current day.
The arrival of aliens was dramatic – not the capsules of the original book and films, but a very dramatic lightning storm and a personal capsule for the invader. It was pretty impressive, as was the CGI when the war machines emerged from the ground. But therein lies another issue for me. The claim was that the war machines had been there all along, buried, waiting for the invasion. This just didn't seem right to me, so I'd like to propose an alternative; the invading forces actually drop a penetrating device with a nano-tech programmed building device to create a war machine. The dramatic lightning was power to initiate the seed's growth. The humans assume that the war machines were buried because the technology is so far ahead of their current usage. Works for me!
So War of the Worlds is worth it for a wet and rainy night in, but it isn't on my list of DVDs to buy. Next up was Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott's new epic film. I love Scott's direction and photographic style. The way he uses light and dark has always impressed me, and I own a fair few of his films so I really wanted to see this. In addition, my recent purchase of Crusader Rex re-ignited my love of the period.
I was pleasantly surprised by the film. As I expected, it looked gorgeous. It did have the whole epic film feel, but it didn't manage to achieve the same emotional engagement that Gladiator did. I think it suffered from two things; firstly, the theme of Balian (Orlando Bloom's character) seeking redemption never really comes out clearly enough in the story to make you feel bothered for the character. Secondly, the whole film feels very truncated. Watching the additional 'Pilgrim's Way' subtitles that link the decision behind the film to historical reality makes it clear how complicated the real-politick that was going on was. There are hints of this in the film, but it never seems to be developed properly, probably because it would need too much screen time. This leaves an enjoyable, but flawed film. I could see myself watching this again, but I may wait and see if a director's cut comes out that has some more of the politics in before I buy it.
The final film of the three was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This was Tim Burton's re-imagining of Roald Dahl's masterpiece. I never much liked the Gene Wilder version, and hoped that Burton's dark and weird approach would really reflect the book better. And, I think it did. The imagery, the whole attitude and style was brilliant. It was pretty faithful to the original and Johnny Depp was fantastic! I only surprised that Michael Jackson hasn't sued!
Wholeheartedly recommended. I will be buying it, but probably once it drops from the initial launch price. What's the point of paying £15 to £17 when you can get it for £7-8 four or five months later?
We kicked off with H.G.Wells' classic, redone for the present-day by Spielberg. The effects were brilliant, and action steady, but somehow it just didn't do it for me. Now, part of the reason for that may be the legacy of Jeff Wayne's musical version, which was a big influence on me when I was barely into my teens. Morgan Freeman's introductory narrative jarred, because it just wasn't Richard Burton.
Into the film, and we see Tom Cruise playing a variation of the arseh*le character that he made his career with. A divorced father of two, he looks as if he is what the characters in Top Gun and Days of Thunder would have become when their arrogance finally led to a real fall. I found it hard to be sympathetic to him until later in the film when his impotence against the alien invaders became apparent, and his fear of loosing his family took over. One sensible change was that the aliens were no longer 'Martians' – it would have been hard to justify after the amount of exploration missions to Mars that as the setting is the current day.
The arrival of aliens was dramatic – not the capsules of the original book and films, but a very dramatic lightning storm and a personal capsule for the invader. It was pretty impressive, as was the CGI when the war machines emerged from the ground. But therein lies another issue for me. The claim was that the war machines had been there all along, buried, waiting for the invasion. This just didn't seem right to me, so I'd like to propose an alternative; the invading forces actually drop a penetrating device with a nano-tech programmed building device to create a war machine. The dramatic lightning was power to initiate the seed's growth. The humans assume that the war machines were buried because the technology is so far ahead of their current usage. Works for me!
So War of the Worlds is worth it for a wet and rainy night in, but it isn't on my list of DVDs to buy. Next up was Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott's new epic film. I love Scott's direction and photographic style. The way he uses light and dark has always impressed me, and I own a fair few of his films so I really wanted to see this. In addition, my recent purchase of Crusader Rex re-ignited my love of the period.
I was pleasantly surprised by the film. As I expected, it looked gorgeous. It did have the whole epic film feel, but it didn't manage to achieve the same emotional engagement that Gladiator did. I think it suffered from two things; firstly, the theme of Balian (Orlando Bloom's character) seeking redemption never really comes out clearly enough in the story to make you feel bothered for the character. Secondly, the whole film feels very truncated. Watching the additional 'Pilgrim's Way' subtitles that link the decision behind the film to historical reality makes it clear how complicated the real-politick that was going on was. There are hints of this in the film, but it never seems to be developed properly, probably because it would need too much screen time. This leaves an enjoyable, but flawed film. I could see myself watching this again, but I may wait and see if a director's cut comes out that has some more of the politics in before I buy it.
The final film of the three was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This was Tim Burton's re-imagining of Roald Dahl's masterpiece. I never much liked the Gene Wilder version, and hoped that Burton's dark and weird approach would really reflect the book better. And, I think it did. The imagery, the whole attitude and style was brilliant. It was pretty faithful to the original and Johnny Depp was fantastic! I only surprised that Michael Jackson hasn't sued!
Wholeheartedly recommended. I will be buying it, but probably once it drops from the initial launch price. What's the point of paying £15 to £17 when you can get it for £7-8 four or five months later?
18 November 2005
Rapidweaver 3.2
Well, I've been patiently waiting, and finally, Rapidweaver 3.2 is out. And it feels faster and even more together. Altogether excellent. I'm going to have to check how easily I can update some of the custom 3.1 themes I've made, but that shouldn't be a problem.
RW3.2 adds a lot of features, such as the ability to include inline graphics more easily (scaling and rotating!), and more scaleable pages. As an example, here is an image of Neptune from NASA/Hubble imagery.
13 October 2005
Two very different films
The last two weekends we've been to the cinema to see films with friends and family. The first of these was Working Title's new cinema adaptation of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. This was always going to be a brave film to make, especially after the BBC TV version had become the definitive version for many people, even to the extent that Colin Firth almost reprised the role in Bridget Jones' Diary.
Now, I wasn't a big fan of the BBC version – possibly influenced by the many times that I had been forced to read it when doing my English Literature GCSE back at the end of the eighties – but Jill was, and we both had different reactions to the film. I really enjoyed it, especially Donald Sutherland's fantastic performance as Mr Bennett. The look of the film was far closer to how I imagined it when I read the novel than the more opulent BBC version was. Jill had two main objections; firstly, that Kiera Knightley was not as good at portraying a strong character with a passionate spirit as the actress in the TV series was, and secondly that Mr Darcy wasn't played by Colin Firth. Now, I could argue that the former didn't seem to be an issue to me, and the latter was a positive advantage, but I think that I'd lose!
The second film we went to see was Serenity, Joss Whedon's Sci-Fi film. Whedon is justifiably respected as a scriptwriter for his more recent TV shows - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, which captured the hearts of a wide range of the teens to thirties market in a similar way that Chris Carter's X Files did at the start of the nineties. As the two shows wound down, Whedon was working with Fox on a new Sci-Fi show called Firefly. This was set out on the frontier, an ensemble piece about the crew of a free trading merchant ship 'Serenity'. The core of the crew are survivors from the losing side of the civil war between the frontier and core worlds. Much like Buffy, and the earlier SF series Babylon 5, the storyline had an ongoing plot arc and was character driven. There was a dark, but delicate, humour to the whole show. But it tanked in the US, and was pulled after only 11 episodes were made.
Now, Fox themselves demonstrated an ineptitude that is near unbelievable. They skipped the pilot, and showed the series at varying times and out of sequence. Is there any surprise that the show tanked? Anyway, Whedon – and Firefly's – fan based agitated hard and managed to get the whole show released on DVD. All of a sudden, it was a big seller, and Fox looked somewhat silly. Whedon still had the movie rights, and a deal was signed with Universal. The result is Serenity.
Serenity follows up the story from where the series ended, winding up some of the plots, but leaving others to resolve in the future. It's been very cleverly written to ensure that you don't have to have seen the series, as most of the key background facts are revealed without resort to a character driven info-dump. The background of the Tam twins (unjustly fugitive siblings from the core worlds) is probably the most complex part of the back-story, and that is carefully revealed along with one of the movies' villains. The whole story is action filled, but character driven, building to a satisfying end which I won't reveal here. We both really enjoyed this (and even my mum did!), so try and see this if you can!
Now, I wasn't a big fan of the BBC version – possibly influenced by the many times that I had been forced to read it when doing my English Literature GCSE back at the end of the eighties – but Jill was, and we both had different reactions to the film. I really enjoyed it, especially Donald Sutherland's fantastic performance as Mr Bennett. The look of the film was far closer to how I imagined it when I read the novel than the more opulent BBC version was. Jill had two main objections; firstly, that Kiera Knightley was not as good at portraying a strong character with a passionate spirit as the actress in the TV series was, and secondly that Mr Darcy wasn't played by Colin Firth. Now, I could argue that the former didn't seem to be an issue to me, and the latter was a positive advantage, but I think that I'd lose!
The second film we went to see was Serenity, Joss Whedon's Sci-Fi film. Whedon is justifiably respected as a scriptwriter for his more recent TV shows - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, which captured the hearts of a wide range of the teens to thirties market in a similar way that Chris Carter's X Files did at the start of the nineties. As the two shows wound down, Whedon was working with Fox on a new Sci-Fi show called Firefly. This was set out on the frontier, an ensemble piece about the crew of a free trading merchant ship 'Serenity'. The core of the crew are survivors from the losing side of the civil war between the frontier and core worlds. Much like Buffy, and the earlier SF series Babylon 5, the storyline had an ongoing plot arc and was character driven. There was a dark, but delicate, humour to the whole show. But it tanked in the US, and was pulled after only 11 episodes were made.
Now, Fox themselves demonstrated an ineptitude that is near unbelievable. They skipped the pilot, and showed the series at varying times and out of sequence. Is there any surprise that the show tanked? Anyway, Whedon – and Firefly's – fan based agitated hard and managed to get the whole show released on DVD. All of a sudden, it was a big seller, and Fox looked somewhat silly. Whedon still had the movie rights, and a deal was signed with Universal. The result is Serenity.
Serenity follows up the story from where the series ended, winding up some of the plots, but leaving others to resolve in the future. It's been very cleverly written to ensure that you don't have to have seen the series, as most of the key background facts are revealed without resort to a character driven info-dump. The background of the Tam twins (unjustly fugitive siblings from the core worlds) is probably the most complex part of the back-story, and that is carefully revealed along with one of the movies' villains. The whole story is action filled, but character driven, building to a satisfying end which I won't reveal here. We both really enjoyed this (and even my mum did!), so try and see this if you can!
02 October 2005
Saturday Night In
Last night, we were planning to see some friends, but they cancelled, so we took the opportunity to watch two – very different – films. Sin City and The Breakfast Club.
Sin City was stylistically fantastic, feeling very much like a comic book (or graphic novel, if you're feeling posh). Shot mainly in black and white, colour is used for emphasis, much like the girl in the red coat was used by Spielberg in Schindler's List. The story itself is very dark, and the heroes – themselves always almost flawed – seem to be doomed against the uncaring bleakness of the city. I'm not sure how true it is to Frank Miller's original, but it was very good, possibly one to buy.
I haven't watched 'the Breakfast Club' for perhaps ten to fifteen years, but I bought it yesterday because I saw it in the local store. My better half had been looking for it for a while, but it's only just come out on DVD. It was as enjoyable as I remember, possibly because it was giving me flashbacks of being a teenager at the same time as the film. I'm glad we got this.
It also made me realise how much rubbish we see out of Hollywood these days. CGI and explosions don't beat plot and character development. Something George Lucas should have realised, especially when you see what was cut out of Attack of the Clones if you watch the deleted scenes. All the character development and rounding out that the original films had!
Sin City was stylistically fantastic, feeling very much like a comic book (or graphic novel, if you're feeling posh). Shot mainly in black and white, colour is used for emphasis, much like the girl in the red coat was used by Spielberg in Schindler's List. The story itself is very dark, and the heroes – themselves always almost flawed – seem to be doomed against the uncaring bleakness of the city. I'm not sure how true it is to Frank Miller's original, but it was very good, possibly one to buy.
I haven't watched 'the Breakfast Club' for perhaps ten to fifteen years, but I bought it yesterday because I saw it in the local store. My better half had been looking for it for a while, but it's only just come out on DVD. It was as enjoyable as I remember, possibly because it was giving me flashbacks of being a teenager at the same time as the film. I'm glad we got this.
It also made me realise how much rubbish we see out of Hollywood these days. CGI and explosions don't beat plot and character development. Something George Lucas should have realised, especially when you see what was cut out of Attack of the Clones if you watch the deleted scenes. All the character development and rounding out that the original films had!
25 September 2005
Birthday Presents
I was fortunate that I received a number of CDs for my birthday, some of which have been really great. I also picked up some more to add to the blend.
Madness - The Dangerman Sessions Vol 1.
I used to love Madness when I was young but kind of lost touch when I got into rock, except for a brief encounter when their Greatest Hits Album came out while I was at Uni. This album is a real feel-good one. It's a lot of covers - tracks like 'Lola' and 'Shame & Scandal' really put a smile on your face. As a friend put it - 'Real Friday Afternoon Music'.
Simple Minds - Black & White 050505
Now, I'm not sure what the 050505 bit is all about, but this is a continuing return to form from a band that I used to love a decade ago. There was a real dive in quality in their albums after 'Real Life', but I was re-inspired by 2002's 'Cry'. So much so that we used a track in our wedding disco start up. Black & White is a different beast to its more electronic predecessor, but an excellent album all the same. The first two tracks - 'Stay Visible' and 'Home' are punchy and enjoyable, with an energy that has been missing for a while. 'Stranger' reminds me too much of Madonna, but after that there are classics like 'Underneath the Ice', 'Different World' (which really reminds me of the Good News album) and the final track 'Dolphins'. It's not going to set the world alight, but it's a fine album.
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
It's a crime that this didn't win the Mercury. This debut album is upbeat, fun, harmonious and well made. Fantastic quality. The band are two pairs of brother/sister singer songwriters, and the whole album is uplifting and leaves me with a smile. Truly excellent, and I look forward to their next CD. What did annoy me was the way that EMI had set this up on iTunes so it can't be bought as an album fro £7.99. You have to buy the songs as individuals which makes it £11, so I bought the disc rather than the download. Had to wait an extra day, but it was worth it.
I've also got Goldfrapp 'Supernature' and Gwen Stefani's new album, but I haven't listened to either enough to have an opinion yet.
Madness - The Dangerman Sessions Vol 1.
I used to love Madness when I was young but kind of lost touch when I got into rock, except for a brief encounter when their Greatest Hits Album came out while I was at Uni. This album is a real feel-good one. It's a lot of covers - tracks like 'Lola' and 'Shame & Scandal' really put a smile on your face. As a friend put it - 'Real Friday Afternoon Music'.
Simple Minds - Black & White 050505
Now, I'm not sure what the 050505 bit is all about, but this is a continuing return to form from a band that I used to love a decade ago. There was a real dive in quality in their albums after 'Real Life', but I was re-inspired by 2002's 'Cry'. So much so that we used a track in our wedding disco start up. Black & White is a different beast to its more electronic predecessor, but an excellent album all the same. The first two tracks - 'Stay Visible' and 'Home' are punchy and enjoyable, with an energy that has been missing for a while. 'Stranger' reminds me too much of Madonna, but after that there are classics like 'Underneath the Ice', 'Different World' (which really reminds me of the Good News album) and the final track 'Dolphins'. It's not going to set the world alight, but it's a fine album.
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
It's a crime that this didn't win the Mercury. This debut album is upbeat, fun, harmonious and well made. Fantastic quality. The band are two pairs of brother/sister singer songwriters, and the whole album is uplifting and leaves me with a smile. Truly excellent, and I look forward to their next CD. What did annoy me was the way that EMI had set this up on iTunes so it can't be bought as an album fro £7.99. You have to buy the songs as individuals which makes it £11, so I bought the disc rather than the download. Had to wait an extra day, but it was worth it.
I've also got Goldfrapp 'Supernature' and Gwen Stefani's new album, but I haven't listened to either enough to have an opinion yet.
Rapidweaver - More thoughts
I've just finished my first customised RapidWeaver site, and it was surprisingly easy. Far more easy than I thought it would be. The customer is pretty demanding (my father-in-law) but seemed reasonably happy with the end result. The site needs some developing yet, but you can judge for yourself how good the final result is. I guess that this means that I really need to start on updating the BITS and Power Projection sites now!
01 September 2005
Now that's what I call Customer Service
When I was building up the Block game Crusader Rex, I noticed that there were some starting position details missing on two of the Kurdish pieces, and another one was misprinted. Because the rules for the game are pretty clear, I soon worked out where the starting position was (Damascus) and wasn't really worried about the glitch.
I was really surprised when yesterday the post arrived, along with a letter of apology and replacement labels from Columbia Games.
Now that is real customer service!
I was really surprised when yesterday the post arrived, along with a letter of apology and replacement labels from Columbia Games.
Now that is real customer service!
28 August 2005
First Impressions: Ex Machina - Tri-stat Cyberpunk
I've just finished reading Ex Machina and very nice it is too. Tri-stat implementation seems good (although I need to do some char-gen and combat to get a feel for the system).
Settings are interesting;
Heaven over Mountain is a biotech closed world orbital beanstalk game. Nicely written but didn't float my boat too much.
Underworld is a dark dystopian future American Empire game that reminds me of a number of B Movie SF films in the late 80s and early 90s. The idea is that the US has large work complexes in occupied territories where civil rights have been removed. Lots of potential. I loved the idea that the corporation which sells neural interface chips also sell surplus cycle time on them for processing exercises.
IOSHI is a very different setting - value is based on skills and talents which are developed by people in a virtual state ('Sparta'). There are dark edges to this which could be interesting, but I couldn't think of an 'in' to run this.
Daedalus is a beauty of a setting. Imagine a world where the government decided to implement a universal ID by implementation of a future development of RFID chips. This is implanted and trackable. Later generations of the chip can administer drugs and further keep people happy. Society is tweaked and increasingly controlled in the ongoing fight against terrorism, and the people in it slowly see it as more and more of a utopia. Emotional responses are moderated to drive society towards someone else's ideal of 2.4 kids and a job for life...
What if one day you woke up in this Utopia to find your chip didn't work anymore and you were an outsider.? Surgery to fix it doesn't work, you loose your citizenship rights, and can only hold a menial job because you have no valid ID that is trusted properly? You become an outsider. What if you find out the truth?
Settings are interesting;
Heaven over Mountain is a biotech closed world orbital beanstalk game. Nicely written but didn't float my boat too much.
Underworld is a dark dystopian future American Empire game that reminds me of a number of B Movie SF films in the late 80s and early 90s. The idea is that the US has large work complexes in occupied territories where civil rights have been removed. Lots of potential. I loved the idea that the corporation which sells neural interface chips also sell surplus cycle time on them for processing exercises.
IOSHI is a very different setting - value is based on skills and talents which are developed by people in a virtual state ('Sparta'). There are dark edges to this which could be interesting, but I couldn't think of an 'in' to run this.
Daedalus is a beauty of a setting. Imagine a world where the government decided to implement a universal ID by implementation of a future development of RFID chips. This is implanted and trackable. Later generations of the chip can administer drugs and further keep people happy. Society is tweaked and increasingly controlled in the ongoing fight against terrorism, and the people in it slowly see it as more and more of a utopia. Emotional responses are moderated to drive society towards someone else's ideal of 2.4 kids and a job for life...
What if one day you woke up in this Utopia to find your chip didn't work anymore and you were an outsider.? Surgery to fix it doesn't work, you loose your citizenship rights, and can only hold a menial job because you have no valid ID that is trusted properly? You become an outsider. What if you find out the truth?
23 August 2005
Cats and Boardgames
I settled down with my new board-game 'Hammer of the Scots' tonight, half watching the Liverpool match (as it wasn't especially exciting), with the idea of getting to understand the rules.
Sadly, I made the mistake of setting up on the floor. This meant, just as the first game year came to an end – with the Scots in control of the area around Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the English pushed to the extreme north-east – the cat noticed the new game. I'm not sure that his move was legal (encircling and knocking over the English blocks with his paws, and trying to pick up and bite Wallace) but it was quite funny. Perhaps he thinks he's a special UN peacekeeper! He ran off when I challenged whether he was cheating!
Sadly, I made the mistake of setting up on the floor. This meant, just as the first game year came to an end – with the Scots in control of the area around Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the English pushed to the extreme north-east – the cat noticed the new game. I'm not sure that his move was legal (encircling and knocking over the English blocks with his paws, and trying to pick up and bite Wallace) but it was quite funny. Perhaps he thinks he's a special UN peacekeeper! He ran off when I challenged whether he was cheating!
21 August 2005
Columbia's Block Games
'Hammer of the Scots' and 'Crusader Rex' arrived on Friday. I've not had a chance to play them yet, but the components are very good quality, the rules clear and the map-boards look superb.
I've only tried a basic set-up and followed the rules through to see how they both work, but I think the games are going to be really good fun, and teach me a lot about the geography of Scotland and the Middle East, albeit 700 to 800 years ago!
I've only tried a basic set-up and followed the rules through to see how they both work, but I think the games are going to be really good fun, and teach me a lot about the geography of Scotland and the Middle East, albeit 700 to 800 years ago!
Compare and Contrast
Well, firstly, kudos to Symantec. The day after I last posted, they sent me an update saying Norton Anti-Virus X had shipped, and then the package arrived on Tuesday. As it was too big for the mailbox, I went and collected from the Post Office on Wednesday. Once I got home, it was the usual safe boot followed by an hassle-free install. My first impressions are that Norton AV is finally starting to get it together for the OS X. It looks a lot better than either AV8 or AV9.
Anyway, onto compare and contrast. In this case, the US Postal Service / UK Royal Mail, and UPS. Recently, I've ordered two different items from the US, one of each came into the UK via each service. Let's see how they compare.
Item 1 - a case and USB cable set for my Treo 650 Smartphone. I bought from the US because the Treo is established there and only just became available here in the UK. The perils of being an early adopter! Total value was just over £12 and it wasn't VAT exempt, so unfortunately customs charges ensued. UPS arrive with the package, demanding £18 for clearance and VAT payment. No warning, and, no, they don't give change. Not to mention that the VAT total is only around £2 of the £18 charged! The attitude of the driver really sucked. The whole experience compares well to my previous interaction with UPS, and also to my better half's experience of them a few years ago. Sadly, UPS wasn't optional.
Item 2 - two block games total cost of around £60 from Columbia Games in the USA. I bought these direct from the manufacturer as they don't do distribution anymore as they've been stung by collapses too often. The package came via US Postal Service, and then Royal Mail. I got a note through the door with the charge details and went to the local Post Office to collect the same day. The service was polite and helpful, and the clearance handing charge was around £4 plus £10 for the VAT.
So, in this case, the state owned services win over supposedly customer focussed private industry!
Anyway, onto compare and contrast. In this case, the US Postal Service / UK Royal Mail, and UPS. Recently, I've ordered two different items from the US, one of each came into the UK via each service. Let's see how they compare.
Item 1 - a case and USB cable set for my Treo 650 Smartphone. I bought from the US because the Treo is established there and only just became available here in the UK. The perils of being an early adopter! Total value was just over £12 and it wasn't VAT exempt, so unfortunately customs charges ensued. UPS arrive with the package, demanding £18 for clearance and VAT payment. No warning, and, no, they don't give change. Not to mention that the VAT total is only around £2 of the £18 charged! The attitude of the driver really sucked. The whole experience compares well to my previous interaction with UPS, and also to my better half's experience of them a few years ago. Sadly, UPS wasn't optional.
Item 2 - two block games total cost of around £60 from Columbia Games in the USA. I bought these direct from the manufacturer as they don't do distribution anymore as they've been stung by collapses too often. The package came via US Postal Service, and then Royal Mail. I got a note through the door with the charge details and went to the local Post Office to collect the same day. The service was polite and helpful, and the clearance handing charge was around £4 plus £10 for the VAT.
So, in this case, the state owned services win over supposedly customer focussed private industry!
14 August 2005
Symantec... why?
I use Macs at home, and have done since 1996 when I got fed up of Windows and all the messing about to keep the system optimised that I used to have to do. It was fun when I was a teenager, but I reached a point where I was fed up and just wanted to focus on using the machine rather than making it work.
Anyway, I'm just about to upgrade our iMac G4 (with a gorgeous 20" screen) from OS X 10.3 Panther to OS X 10.4 Tiger and decided to check that absolutely everything was compatible. As usual, it turned out that most software had patches on line (which would work with the older Panther) with the exception of Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus 9, which needed an upgrade to the new version 10.
Now, I expected this. It'd happened with AV8 when Panther came out, so I went and followed the links to the Symantec site, and selected the upgrade, which would then only give me an option to upgrade to the version I was already on!! After two emails to their support (based in India by the looks of the email) I'd found the correct links. These showed that you could only buy a physical package rather than a download. I was annoyed (I wanted it now!) but ordered it anyway. Three days later I get an email saying it's on backorder. Their *own* software.
It's times like this that I wonder why I bother. So far, in 4 years, there hasn't been a virus on OS X (and I've used all the releases from OS 10.0!) – I mainly have the anti-virus to make sure I don't send on viruses to my PC friends. I know that Norton has a bad reputation now with the Windows world, but it's the most commonly updated and supported version for the Mac. If there was an F-Prot I'd use it as quickly as I could!
So, by my reckoning, there are four reasons to be annoyed with Symantec;
1) Poor website link software for upgrades.
2) Lack of a downloadable version.
3) Poor stock control.
4) Lack of a simple patch to move between versions.
But I guess I'll carry on using them until I can find anything better.
Anyway, I'm just about to upgrade our iMac G4 (with a gorgeous 20" screen) from OS X 10.3 Panther to OS X 10.4 Tiger and decided to check that absolutely everything was compatible. As usual, it turned out that most software had patches on line (which would work with the older Panther) with the exception of Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus 9, which needed an upgrade to the new version 10.
Now, I expected this. It'd happened with AV8 when Panther came out, so I went and followed the links to the Symantec site, and selected the upgrade, which would then only give me an option to upgrade to the version I was already on!! After two emails to their support (based in India by the looks of the email) I'd found the correct links. These showed that you could only buy a physical package rather than a download. I was annoyed (I wanted it now!) but ordered it anyway. Three days later I get an email saying it's on backorder. Their *own* software.
It's times like this that I wonder why I bother. So far, in 4 years, there hasn't been a virus on OS X (and I've used all the releases from OS 10.0!) – I mainly have the anti-virus to make sure I don't send on viruses to my PC friends. I know that Norton has a bad reputation now with the Windows world, but it's the most commonly updated and supported version for the Mac. If there was an F-Prot I'd use it as quickly as I could!
So, by my reckoning, there are four reasons to be annoyed with Symantec;
1) Poor website link software for upgrades.
2) Lack of a downloadable version.
3) Poor stock control.
4) Lack of a simple patch to move between versions.
But I guess I'll carry on using them until I can find anything better.
10 August 2005
First Thoughts on Rapidweaver
Well, it's two days since I started trying RapidWeaver, and I've probably spent five hours playing with it to get this far. In reality, that time was split into two hours getting the old files and FTP login details and stripping them out, and three hours actually getting used to the program.
I'm pleased with the result, although the clouds do remind me a little too much of Windows for comfort. The next step will be modifying a theme for my father-in-law to have his societies website. I'm hoping that this first one can be done just by opening the theme package and dropping in a replacement graphic the same size, but if the worst comes to the worst I'll use the CSSEdit program. However, I was hoping to leave that for site number three...
It's a very different feel to web development, using RapidWeaver, compared to GoLive. Mac360 described it 'as a whole new metaphor'. They've got that right on the ball.
I'm waiting to see how long it takes my dad to notice this site has changed!
I'm pleased with the result, although the clouds do remind me a little too much of Windows for comfort. The next step will be modifying a theme for my father-in-law to have his societies website. I'm hoping that this first one can be done just by opening the theme package and dropping in a replacement graphic the same size, but if the worst comes to the worst I'll use the CSSEdit program. However, I was hoping to leave that for site number three...
It's a very different feel to web development, using RapidWeaver, compared to GoLive. Mac360 described it 'as a whole new metaphor'. They've got that right on the ball.
I'm waiting to see how long it takes my dad to notice this site has changed!
08 August 2005
a|state
Ever since it came out, I've been a big fan of the a|state RPG by Contested Ground Studios. It is a unique game, which reminds me very much of (amongst other things) China Mieville's excellent 'Perdido Street Station'. The system is very like the Chaosium BRP engine, but very rules light. I knocked together a quick reference sheet for the combat rules using OmniGraffle, and sent the PDF to Malc at CGS so they can put it on the website. To my surprise they said that they'd like to use it in their forthcoming GM Screen! So I agreed.
Anyway, if you want to see what all the fuss about a|state is, go to their website and download the free PDF file of the 'lite' rules. In reality, it's all you need to try a game out. Fantastic stuff.
Anyway, if you want to see what all the fuss about a|state is, go to their website and download the free PDF file of the 'lite' rules. In reality, it's all you need to try a game out. Fantastic stuff.
Eager Anticipation
A couple of weeks ago, I finally succumbed to temptation that had been building over the last year and ordered some of Columbia Games blockgames. I'm eagerly waiting for Hammer of the Scots and Crusader Rex to arrive from across the Atlantic. After they arrive, there's only the challenge of sorting someone to play them with. I hope they don't languish like the copy of Serennisma that I got last year, another one that I really want to play.
Rebuilding from the Ground Up
This website has been dormant for far too long, so I decided to use it as a platform to try out a fantastic looking web package that I recently found called RapidWeaver, written by a small company in Brighton in the UK for Mac OS X. What attracted me to this was that it was theme driven and very simple to use. Until I started this revamp, all the web pages I've built were either hand-coded or made with Adobe's GoLive. GoLive is a fantastic package, but you have to know what you're doing in a techie sense to get the most out of it. RapidWeaver looks to be far simpler, and faster, and certainly up to delivering most of what I need.
It also looked like an excellent tool to rapidly create the website for the Birkenhead History Society that my father-in-law wants. So I decided to give it a whirl. If this works out right, I will migrate the Power Projection and BITS UK websites later on.
It also looked like an excellent tool to rapidly create the website for the Birkenhead History Society that my father-in-law wants. So I decided to give it a whirl. If this works out right, I will migrate the Power Projection and BITS UK websites later on.
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